living is a city like Mogadishu waiting to see if there will be a peaceful transition from the people who have had control of the area--the Islamist Courts militias who are disappearing quickly and leaving the capitol--to the people who are marching on the city, the Somali and Ethiopian troops backed by the legitimate government of Somalia.
I don't know much about the situation in Somalia. It sounds like there is relief that the Islamic Courts are gone but uncertainty over forces advancing on the city, and whether the conflict will escalate into civilian deaths. There is backing from the African Union for the defeat of the Islamists, and there is also a lot of finger-pointing at the UN, who have been unable to restore the government of Somalia or prevent the conflict.
I have learnt a little about khat, a plant whose leaves are chewed as a stimulant and whose sale was banned by the Islamic Courts, from the new stories.
Some are already fleeing the city. Others are waiting and watching. My thoughts are with them as they struggle to live their lives in uncertainty.
Somalia: Islamists disappearing in the capital
Daily Update on Somalia
| Unshelved | by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum |
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